Even as Donald Trump wants TikTok ‘banned’, Microsoft reportedly in talks to acquire US operations
Washington:
Tech giant Microsoft is ahead of talks to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, according to a media report on Friday, even as President Donald Trump said his administration was considering banning the Chinese video app.
“We are looking at TikTok. We may be banning TikTok,” President Trump told reporters at the White House. India has banned as many as 106 Chinese apps, including TikTok, a move hailed by both the administration and lawmakers.
“There are other things we can do. There are a few options. But a lot of things are happening, so we’ll see what happens. But we are looking at a lot of alternatives to TikTok,” Donald Trump said in response to a question.
On Friday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft, led by Indian-American Satya Nadella, was in advanced talks to acquire the US operations of TikTok. The deal could cost billions of dollars.
“An agreement could be reached by Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, and the talks involve representatives from Microsoft, Bytedance and the White House. Discussions are fluid and a deal may not be successful,” the report said. Wall Street Journal.
Bytedance, based in China, is the parent company of TikTok.
In recent weeks, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused TikTok of collecting personal information from Americans. “India has banned 106 Chinese apps, including TikTok, which threatened the privacy and security of its citizens,” he told members of the House foreign affairs committee on Thursday.
The media also said the Trump administration would soon order ByteDance to divest itself of its ownership of the U.S. operations from TikTok.
“In its current form, TikTok represents a potential threat to privacy and our national security. I commend the Trump administration for taking this critical step, but we need to do more than just remove ByteDance from the equation,” he said. said Senator Marco Rubio.
“Moving forward, we need to establish a framework of standards that must be met before a high-risk foreign application is allowed to operate on US telecommunications networks and devices,” Rubio said, adding that he was preparing legislation to this effect. .
Meanwhile, Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers calling on the Justice Department to open Zoom and TikTok for reported violations of Americans’ civil liberties and their links. close with the Chinese Communist. Party (PCC).
“Based on numerous reports, we are extremely concerned that Zoom and TikTok have disclosed private information about Americans to the PRC and engaged in censorship on behalf of the Chinese government,” the senators said. .
“As tens of millions of Americans turn to Zoom and TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic, few know that their data privacy and freedom of expression are at risk because of these companies’ relationships with the Chinese government, ”they wrote. .
“Of particular concern, Zoom and TikTok have sought to conceal and distract from their meaningful ties to China, posing as US companies. pressure that forces them to censor and spy on Chinese state security services, ”the senators said.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
